Real estate sales hold steady

November 2, 2015

October 2015 homes sales came in just a hair lower than those of October 2014, the best October since 2007. A total of 695 homes exchanged hands last month, just three shy of October 2014, which saw 698 sales. 577 detached homes sold in October, up a marginal 0.9%, while condo sales dropped 6.3%. Total sales were down a very negligible 0.4%. "Clearly we've hit the mark and are holding steady," says Carl Vandergoot, President of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS®. Year-to-date sales are up over 2014 by 9.8%.

Listings were down for detached homes in October – 14.2% for detached homes and 7.5% for condos. Active Listings End or Period (inventory) was also down 11.4% for detached homes and 0.2% for condos. "We're keeping a close watch on listings to see if we might be starting to shift into a Sellers' market," says Vandergoot. "Whether that is the case or not, with listings this low, now is a good time to list."

The real estate market continued to perform well in St. Thomas in October. Fifty-five homes sold in that City, making it the best October since 2012. The average price of a home in St. Thomas Year-to-Date stands at $217,752 up 8.9%.

The best-selling house style in LSTAR's jurisdiction for October 2015 was the two-storey, then the bungalow, followed by ranches, then townhouse condominiums, then high rise apartment condos. The average price for a detached home Year-to-Date stood at $282,585, up 4.4%, while the average price for a condo over the same period stood at $190,067, up 4%. Year-to-Date the average price of all homes sold through LSTAR's MLS® stood at $265,019, up 4.3%.